Johnboat fishing has long history in the Ozarks

Aug. 22, 2012

Morrison fishes while floating in a johnboat on a clear Ozark stream. The johnboat became a popular vessel for float fishing because its flat bottom and light weight make it more versatile for anglers. / Ken White/for the News-Leader

Written by

Ken

WHITE

Here in the Ozarks, home of float fishing, an angler can have his cake and eat it too. The many cool, clear spring-fed streams in the Ozarks are home to smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, trout, channel catfish and various species of panfish.

A fisherman can be on his own in the wild and float in a canoe or kayak down a stream, or he can engage an outfitter and slip downstream in a “johnboat” with everything provided, including equipment and supplies.

Some of the Ozarks’ famous float streams include the Current, Eleven Point, Big Piney, Meramec, Niangua, Gasconade, Sac and Black rivers. There are more than 10,000 miles of streams in the state where some type of floating and fishing can be found.

Floating is becoming more popular each year and annually attracts anglers from all over the world. Ozark streams have gained national attention as home of the smallmouth bass, and most Ozark float streams like the Current feature prime angling for smallmouths.

Recently, Jack Green of Springfield floated the Current in a johnboat and caught three smallmouths that topped 2 pounds each.

After that fishing trip, Green and his friend Fred Hays, of Ozark, talked about the history of floating Ozarks streams in a johnboat.

Ozark float fishing is generally said to have been started on the James River in 1904. This sport gained its greatest fame in the 1930s and ’40s when big Jim Owens ran his float-fishing service on the White River.

Research shows that early use of the “Ozark johnboat” was made by John Eaton and Charles Christopher, and they made it underground.

The place was near Leasburg, south of St. Louis, and these two men were trying to explore the passageway’s huge cavern on the Meramec River. At that time, the only entrance was in the middle of the underground river, so Eaton and Christopher lowered a long johnboat into the cavern, emerging 36 hours later with tales of treasure and a vast amount of beautiful onyx formations.

The two men weren’t float fishing when they made this exploration, but the johnboat became the ideal vessel for water use where a number of people and supplies was necessary.

The cave the men discovered is known as Onondaga Cave, which was opened to the public in 1904 in conjunction with the St. Louis World’s Fair of that year.

Hays finished his story about the underground river float by saying, “Missouri is known as the Cave State and for good reason. There are hundreds of caves in the state and even more to be discovered.”

Today, you don’t see many johnboats — they have been replaced with canoes and kayaks used by the thousands of floaters and fishermen — but there are still a lot of float-fishermen who swear by the old johnboat and its many uses.